What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after uncertainty increased over when key companies can resume large-scale sales of high-end artificial-intelligence chips to China. 

The U.S. government reportedly extended its review of export license applications for AI hardware, such as Nvidia's H200 chips, on national security grounds. This delay created uncertainty for chipmakers and reportedly led some Chinese customers to postpone orders until clearer guidance was issued. While there were earlier signals that some shipments could restart, the extended review process stalled progress, weighing on the stock of major exporters who saw China as a significant market. The situation highlighted the ongoing geopolitical tensions impacting the semiconductor industry's global supply chain.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Semiconductor Manufacturing company Amtech (NASDAQ: ASYS) fell 10%. Is now the time to buy Amtech? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Analog Semiconductors company Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE: VSH) fell 2%. Is now the time to buy Vishay Intertechnology? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Semiconductor Manufacturing company Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) fell 7.7%. Is now the time to buy Lam Research? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Memory Semiconductors company Micron (NASDAQ: MU) fell 8.9%. Is now the time to buy Micron? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Memory Semiconductors company Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) fell 7.4%. Is now the time to buy Western Digital? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On Amtech (ASYS)

Amtech’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 54 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 4 months ago when the stock gained 14.5% on the news that the company unveiled significant upgrades to its technology platform, AmtechOS, powered by artificial intelligence. These enhancements aimed to streamline operations and speed up the transition from prototype to production for printed circuit boards. The new AI-driven tools, including Scope of Work AI and Electronics troubleshooting AI, were fully integrated into the company's system to provide real-time information throughout the manufacturing process. The announcement built on existing positive sentiment, as the stock had already shown strong price movement and a high Momentum Score leading up to the news. One report also noted that an analyst had upgraded the company's stock in the previous month.

Amtech is up 21.5% since the beginning of the year, but at $15.74 per share, it is still trading 13.9% below its 52-week high of $18.28 from January 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Amtech’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,015.

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